Libraries and archives : surviving, striving and thriving

The brief for this lecture was to discuss the twentieth-century history of archives and libraries, focusing on changes that occurred in Malta with Independence in 1964. I will try to avoid too much narrative of events and focus instead on highlights which in some way reflect the political, professional or lay thinking about the two sectors and whether the post- Independence mentality left a mark on the domains in focus.peer-reviewe

Work in progress : towards the establishment of a Maltese National Register of Archives

The National Archives is currently building up a new web-site that aims to reach the public in innovative ways. It will make it possible for patrons to order copies of records and make online payments using the government payment gateway. Another achievement of this web-site will be the facility of an on-line National Register of Archives (NRA). This idea is not new to Malta, and was repeated over and over again during the last sixty years. However, the availability of the internet, and the present structures of the National Archives make it possible to have this vision come true. This article traces the background to this development, and also presents a first snapshot of the benefits which this NRA will provide to the public and to scholars.peer-reviewe

Lone Rangers no more : archival cooperation in transition

Archival cooperation has changed over the last few decades. Building on the author’s experience of over 27 years in the archive sector, and on his study and lecturing experiences overseas, the paper focuses on collaboration between archival institutions and sister professions and information management entities in a number of different countries. It explains how archives of small underfunded countries, whose collections nevertheless hold international treasures, can empower their resources through international collaboration. Networks built around specialised themes such as a photographic archives, audio-visual material and the protection of the collective memories of diasporic communities living far from their homeland, are highlighted. Examples of successful new models of collaboration emphasize how archival networking across international borders turns the archivist from a “Lone Ranger” to a member of a large international community, steered by the ICA, guided by ethical and professional principles, and making best use of technology to overcome traditional boundaries.peer-reviewe

Integrity in government through records management

The archives and records management profession is highly specialised and relatively small: this can be isolating for many records professionals. The International Council on Archives (ICA) has developed itself into the international champion for the sector. The extensive network of collaboration also welcomed the Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers (ACARM) set up in 1984. This organisation has protected and facilitated the work of archivists and records managers in Commonwealth counties. This article maps the history of this organisation, its challenges and targets and the plans for the future.peer-reviewe

Tricarbon­yl(2-methyl-2-η6-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane)chromium(0)

The structure of the title compound, [Cr(C10H12O2)(CO)3], is presented. The distorted piano-stool geometry features an off-center Cr(CO)3 fragment which reduces contact with the dioxolane ring. The dioxolane ring, in twisted conformation, is syn-oriented towards the Cr(CO)3 moiety

Os arquivos fotograficos e a agenda da Uniao Europeia : entrevista ao diretor dos Arquivos Nacionais de Malta durante a presidência maltesa da Uniao Europeia

The European Union (EU) has a system of six-month rotation whereby each Member State holds the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which is the main governing body of the EU. Malta is leading its first term in such a role spanning from 1 January to 30 June 2017. Such an opportunity often stimulates the various sectors and this is the case with the archives domain in Malta during the Presidency. The National Archives of Malta is responsible to organise four high level meetings and support three others. Heading the organisation team is Dr. Charles J. Farrugia, Malta’s national archivist. He is not a new face to the sector and has worked in archives for the last twenty-eight years, eighteen of which leading the national archives. He also has the organisational experience of the highly successful CITRA conference held in 2009. That event welcomed in Malta 251 archivists from 91 countries. But the Presidency is different. It spans over six months and includes a high dose of policy formulation. We decided to interview Dr. Farrugia on what is the relevance of all this activity to the Maltese archives sector, in particular photographic holdings and services.peer-reviewe

Laryngeal lymphoma : the high and low grades of rare lymphoma involvement sites

The larynx is an extremely rare site of involvement by lymphomatous disease.We present two cases of isolated laryngeal high-grade and another low-grade lymphoma, together with a literature review of laryngeal lymphoma management.peer-reviewe

Kelvin-Helmholtz multi-spacecraft studies at the Earth's magnetopause boundaries

Copyright © 2010 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.The following article appeared in AIP Conference Proceedings Volume 1216, pp. 483-486, and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3395908Twelfth International Solar Wind Conference, Saint‐Malo, France, 21–26 June 2009The Kelvin‐Helmholtz (KH) instability can operate in various situations in the solar wind, but at the boundaries of planetary obstacles, for example the Earth’s magnetopause, it is most amenable to investigation. Reliable estimates of wave characteristics are essential for comparison with theoretical and numerical models and for understanding the nonlinear development of KH waves and their role in the plasma entry into the magnetosphere. After discussing their typical conditions of appearance in KH unstable domains at the magnetopause, both theoretically and observationally, we outline recent results of multi‐spacecraft analysis with Cluster giving accurate, albeit spatially limited, determination of surface wave characteristics. Those characteristics (wavelength and propagation direction), close to the terminator on the nightside, are likely to be prescribed by the 3‐D geometry and the bending of field lines developed by the KH waves, rather than by the magnitude and the direction of the magnetosheath or background flow. An unprecedented number of satellites provides now the opportunity to extend the analysis of source regions of KH waves and their domains of development